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Title: The Burglar in the Library: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0-451-40783-0 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: June, 1998 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.97 (30 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: excellent - but missing something
Comment: The Burglar series is one of the most clever and entertaining mystery series in modern times. I love Block's style of snappy, yet pithy banter between Bernie and Carolyn. Set in an upstate New York bed and breakfast, and trapped by a snowstorm, an eccentric set of guests start noticing bodies dropping like flies. Was it Professor Plum in the conservatory with a candlestick? Perhaps Mrs Peacock? Bernie wants to solve the murders, but also is interested in pilfering an autographed copy of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep". I was able to guess the killer fairly early, but was highly entertained by the quirky guests, including the pompous British Colonel, and 10 year old Millicent. A couple of things were left unexplained at the end, however, including one of the deaths (natural causes?). Furthermore, Millicent saw something that she reported to Bernie, but nothing ever became of it. I wanted all the loose ends tied up. I know, Chandler wouldn't have tied them, but this wasn't a hardboiled detective story. I also expected more out of Bernie's fake death trick. Nevertheless, this book is very good, and taken with a grain of salt, you will enjoy it!
Rating: 4
Summary: New setting, same great comedy in eighth "Burglar" book
Comment: As readers of Lawrence Block's "Burglar" series know, master cracksman Bernie Rhodenbarr is a city boy -- New York City, to be specific. It is strange, then, to see him tromping through the snow and the plush rooms of a British-style manor house in THE BURGLAR IN THE LIBRARY. Block uses the eighth installment in this excellent series as an opportunity to send up mysteries of the Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None" variety (also taking some affectionate potshots at Raymond Chandler along the way). The result is extremely funny, and the brilliance of the comedy makes it hard to mind too much that the solution to the book's mystery is awfully hard to follow. Does anyone complain that the plot of Neil Simon's "Murder By Death" doesn't make any sense? No. They just pop the tape in the VCR and laugh themselves sick. THE BURGLAR IN THE LIBRARY is disorienting in spots and some long-time readers may not approve of the change of venue, but I defy any reader to make it from cover to cover without laughing out loud. A wonderful, wonderful work of comic fiction.
Rating: 5
Summary: Bernie Has His Busman's Honeymoon
Comment: Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing nonessential valuables from rich people. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!
So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar in the Library is the eighth book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet, The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams and The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Despite that admonition, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar in the Rye comes next in the series.
The series, always comical and satirical, continues the new turn begun in The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart. The spoof expands to the detective/thriller genre in general. I found this change to be a welcome and charming one. Anyone who is an Agatha Christie fan will appreciate the many references to And Then There Were None.
And Then There Were None was my favorite mystery for many years. I loved the way that there seemed to be no solution . . . until the solution miraculously appeared from an unexpected direction. And that was before I knew what a red herring is in a mystery book. Although not duplicating all elements of Dame Agatha's masterpiece, you will find enough reflections to keep you entertained and more than normally amused.
Another delightful element is that parts of the book relate to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. In truly spoofish fun, those parts of the story reflect the characterizations and style of those two great mystery writers.
Bernie has once again fallen in love, with one Lettice Runcible by name, who adores anything English, even if it is an English country house set in New England. Bernie has arranged to take her to Cuttleford House (which fits that description) to enjoy the atmosphere, while he checks out the chance that a rare first edition of The Big Sleep resides there unappreciated by the current owners. He plans are desperately derailed when Lettice announces she cannot go because she's getting married instead. Crestfallen, but still curious about the Raymond Chandler volume, Bernie persuades Carolyn Kaiser, his lesbian best friend, to accompany Raffles, the cat, and him. Added to the usual humor between Bernie and Carolyn are the complications of being bed mates and others assuming that they are either married or lovers.
On the way to Cuttleford House, a huge snowstorm sets in that makes travel difficult. Bernie soon begins discovering unexpected dead and live bodies while he tries to check out the library in the wee hours of the night. By the next morning, they are cut off by the storm . . . and the bodies begin to pile up. With no way to reach the police, Bernie had better get to the bottom of what's going on . . . or he may be next!
The mystery is masterfully complicated and rewarding, for those who care about that aspect of the book.
When I finished this one, I was sure that I had found the best book in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series . . . and I still feel that way. This book is amazingly wonderful.
The theme of this book focuses on the importance (and challenges involved in) treating other people with respect, kindness and consideration. Beware: Bad things happen when we do not!
Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
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Title: The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery (Burglar Series) by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0451194888 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Burglar in the Rye: A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0451198476 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0451180747 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: February, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0451186346 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: July, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block ISBN: 0451184262 Publisher: Onyx Books Pub. Date: June, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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